Fire Prevention Month

Central County Fire Department wants you to keep your family safe with a working smoke alarm in every bedroom. Location matters when it comes to your smoke alarm. That’s the message behind this year’s National Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Don’t Wait! Check the date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years!” Fire Prevention Week, October 9-15, is to remind local residents to replace smoke alarms every 10 years. It is also important to have them installed in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of the home, including the basement. In a fire, seconds count. Half of home fire deaths result from fires reported at night between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. when most people are asleep. Home smoke alarms can alert people to a fire before it spreads, giving everyone enough time to get out. According to the latest NFPA research, working smoke alarms cut the chance of dying in a fire in half. Meanwhile, three out of five fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.

This year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Don’t Wait – Check the Date! Replace Smoke Alarms Every 10 Years,” represents the final year of the three-year effort to educate the public about basic but essential elements of smoke alarm safety.

Why focus on smoke alarms three years in a row? Because NFPA’s survey data shows that the public has many misconceptions about smoke alarms, which may put them at increased risk in the event of a home fire. For example, only a small percentage of people know how old their smoke alarms are, or how often they need to be replaced. Read more from NFPA Journal.

As a result of those and related findings, smoke alarm replacement was still this years theme with a focus on these key messages:

Smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years.

Make sure you know how old all the smoke alarms are in your home.

To find out how old a smoke alarm is, look at the date of manufacture on the back of the alarm; the alarm should be replaced 10 years from that date.

In the Schools…………..

Central County Fire Department Fire Fighters and Prevention Staff visited elementary schools private and public in the Cities of Burlingame, Millbrae and the Town of Hillsborough to deliver Fire Safety Presentations. Topics covered during the presentations include (Smoke Alarms Save Lives, Know Your Escape Plan, Home Fire Sprinklers Save Lives, In the Kitchen). The students participate in hands-on activities and interact through questions and answers. To conclude the presentation, students observe the firefighter go from uniform gear to firefighter gear. The demonstration includes detailed information on what they are wearing and why. The students are also able to see and hear their self-contained breathing apparatus (scba) and how it helps a firefighter breath in a fire.

This year, we are happy to have introduced a new contest, Home Fire Safety Inspection Contest. This contest was designed for family participation to check the home for hazards as well as raise the level of awareness of fire safety within the home. The students were to complete the checklist and submit to the school office. The participating students’ names were entered into a raffle, one winner per grade. The winner is pinned with a Jr. Fire Inspector badge and receives a certificate of successful completion. The winners are then entered into a Grand Raffle, one winner per city. The winners receive a personalized station tour visit with their family.

Contact CCFD

How You Can Help

CCFD Toy Drive proudly serves the communities of Burlingame, Millbrae, and Hillsborough. A chance for us to make a difference in the community and share a special gift with a child in San Mateo County.